this is what's up

truffles.
equal parts:
-honey (or agave)
-almond/peanut butter
-cocoa powder

ok, a little extra cocoa powder.
put mix in fridge. then, after some time, roll.
in: coconut, hemp seeds, sesame seeds, walnuts, and cacao nibs

keep in fridge. devour.

restaurant review - urban solace. and my visit to san diego

1. I got the quinoa burger at Urban Solace in San Diego. No bun, cheese, or fries of course.. so I got sautéed mushrooms, half of an avocado, and a side of greens instead. That's how I usually replace everything on the menu. It's getting easier! Anyway, it was delicious, and I'd recommend that beautiful restaurant to anyone :)

2. What was I doing in San Diego? Visiting my cousin! And, I decided.. that I like it there.

3. For dinner later that night, we made:
- Roasted butternut squash: oven! 350. Cut squash into pieces, top generously with cinnamon and honey. 45 mintues.
-Monkfish: oven! 350. cubed. marinated in lemon juice and olive oil. sprinkled with red pepper and other spicy things. 20 minutes.
-Roasted veggies: oven! 350. Brussels sprouts, zucchini, mushrooms, and onion. Tossed in evoo, with salt, pepper, and herbs. 45 minutes.

4. Taking the Pacific Surfliner Amtrak back to LA. A beautiful, beautiful train ride.

'twas a sweet, rare day of leftovers

I was in LA for the holidays, and my siblings were in town too (this is rare). The three of us were at home (also rare) so I whipped up a little lunch. And we all ate the same thing (rare) together, in a row on the couch.

We had some leftover cedar smoked salmon on a bed of lettuce with leftover some brown rice and sautéed onions. :) Yum.

more pumpkin oatmeal cookies

I think I made 6 batches of these cookies in the two weeks over the holidays. Everyone loved them. They look different from the very first batch I made, because I didn't grind the oats into a fine powder in my coffee grinder. Instead I just chopped them up in a food processor.. and they turned out much better.

hello? am i still there? yep.

Sorry for the lack of posts, so prepare for a little flood here. Lately, I've been traveling, and cooking a lot of dishes that I've already posted. And, I don't feel the same pride after "creating" a "new" dish, that I used to. Now, it's just cooking. It's still fun and delicious, of course, but it's become... normal. Nothing to "blog" about.

So what, I take whatever is fresh and in season, and I use some olive oil or schmaltz, heat it up in my iron skillet, sauté the veggies with a little salt and whichever spices I feel like, and maybe I add a little homemade broth to steam them too. Big deal.

BIG DEAL? It's delicious. And when I look back, not even a whole two years ago, it's such a huge change in my life, that it deserves some recognition. I'm patting myself on the back, publicly. I know :) Thanks for reading my blog. Hope it's been as enjoyable for you to read as it has been for me to create.


Photo: Sautéed maitake mushroom, onion, and spinach.

pumpkin oatmeal cookies

I made Ali and Tom's (Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen's) pumpkin oatmeal cookies for a dinner party I had. Pretty sure I ate way more than my fair share.. They were amazingly soft, and spiced so deliciously :)

I followed their recipe exactly.. And I'm feeling lazy tonight, so I'll quote:

"Use canned pumpkin, baked pie pumpkins or other winter squash. You may need to add extra flour if your baked pumpkin is very moist. I used coconut oil in all four batches I made but I imagine that unsalted butter would work too ~ of course they wouldn't be vegan then! Make sure all of your ingredients are at room temp before mixing. Your coconut oil will be soft enough for this if your house is in the mid 60's (Fahrenheit). Do not melt your coconut oil or use another liquid oil."

Yield: 2 dozen cookies

1 cup softened virgin coconut oil (or unsalted butter)

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 1/2 cups coconut sugar, maple sugar, or brown sugar

1/4 cup ground flax seeds

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 cups oat flour

1 cup rolled oats

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon sea salt

3 to 4 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

In a large bowl beat together, using an electric mixer, the coconut oil, pumpkin, sugar, flax seeds, and vanilla extract. Add the remaining ingredients and beat together again.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. While your oven is preheating let your cookie dough rest on the counter for 20 minutes. The oat flour will absorb some of the liquid during this time which helps the cookies hold their shape.

Drop by the spoonful onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until slightly golden around the edges. Remove cookies and place them onto a wire rack to cool. Cookies are best after they have cooled."
Source: www.NourishingMeals.com

rice and lentil soup: yummy meet frugal

Photo 1: Deborah Madison's Lentil Soup with cumin, cilantro, and chard. Just as I made it before.. straight from her cookbook. But this time, I used chard instead of kale. It was delicious.

Photo 2: I can make this soup last longer, I thought. (I'm going through an intense frugal period in life. Only spending money on traveling.. if I can help it. And at this rate - it looks as though I will travel until there is none left. Time is more difficult to get than money, I think.)
Anyway! I added chicken broth and rice to the soup.. and it was quite delicious. The taste kind of reminded me of stuffed grape leaves. Probably because of the lemon juice.